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Europe is at a critical moment in the fight against the coronavirus. The second wave has put the entire continent on the ropes, the most punished in the world. For the second consecutive week, Europe is the epicenter of the pandemic, with the highest percentage of new infections. Last week, according to WHO data, it recorded 1.3 million cases, 33% more than the previous week. Infections in the European region (which includes 53 countries, including Russia) already account for almost half (46%) of the cases recorded worldwide. The WHO also warns that deaths do not stop growing and already represent a third of all those occurring in the world.
Pressure on health systems in countries like France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK has once again put word of mouth in the mouth of their leaders confinement, in his case referred to the domiciliary, the one he experienced throughout Europe between March and May, more or less severe. Admissions to hospitals, and especially to intensive care units, trace an upward curve that begins to endanger health care. European Commission health commissioner Stella Kyriakides warned yesterday that the situation is “very alarming”. Employment of European intensive care units doubled in three weeks (between 21 September and 12 October, according to data from the European Center for Disease Control, ECDC, which does not include all countries).
Some states fear a hospital collapse within a few weeks if they fail to slow the rate of infections. The Czech Republic, which has the worst cumulative incidence in the EU (1,449 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days) has asked its army to set up a 500-bed field hospital in the capital, Prague, to treat less coronavirus patients. serious and thus freeing hospitals to better treat critics. The country started in August with just over 100 hospitalized for coronavirus. On September 30th they were already 10 times more. They now exceed 6,000.
The situation in Belgium is also very complicated, with an incidence of 1,424, the second highest. Belgian authorities have warned that the country could run out of intensive care beds in just two weeks and acknowledge that some hospitals are understaffed. Non-urgent operations and visits are suspended. The country adds about 13,000 new cases every day. A hospital in Liege, near the border with the Netherlands, has asked nurses positive for coronavirus but asymptomatic to continue working, according to Euronews. Neighboring Holland, with 711 cases per 100,000 population, has started sending patients to Germany, as it did during the first wave, reports Isabel ferrer. Hospitalizations of coronavirus patients increased 17% last week compared to the previous one, a similar rate to the increase in ICUs (16%), which indicates very rapid growth.
The curve of newly diagnosed cases in the UK (incidence of 424) is skyrocketing, almost vertically. The country has 852 people hospitalized in intensive care units (data from last Monday). On 5 October, there were 393, which means that in just three weeks the figure has more than doubled. British hospitals have been receiving more than 1,000 new patients for days. Mark Walport, a member of SAGE – the scientific committee that advises the UK government – assured on Wednesday that the number of admitted patients could exceed the peak of the first wave in late November if no new confinement is imposed. Walport told the BBC that if the rate of infections is not slowed, the 9,199 patients currently hospitalized could more than double by then.
The Italians had not heard for months the word of their premier, Giuseppe Conte: “Lockdown”, imprisonment. It is “the scenario to be avoided at all costs”, but the Italian government is starting to consider it. From Monday, bars and restaurants close at six in the afternoon, in an attempt to slow the growth of infections, 25 thousand new on Wednesday, when 205 deaths were also recorded. The increase in cases was followed by hospitalizations and ICU admissions. According to ECDC data, daily employment in Italian intensive care units has doubled in just over two weeks. As of September 28, there were 264 coronavirus patients in intensive care. As of October 14 (latest available date) there were already 539.
France and Germany, in better shape than many of their neighbors, took further action on Wednesday over fears of the hospital’s collapse. Germany, with an incidence of 156 according to ECDC, has announced the closure of a month of hospitality, cinemas, gyms and hotels for tourism. In France (incidence 660) the number of hospitalized patients is growing very rapidly. On Tuesday, 18,978 people with coronavirus and 2,918 in intensive care were admitted. As of 12 October there were 1,548, that is, in two weeks the number of beds occupied by the critics doubled.
Coronavirus information
– Here you can follow the latest hour on the evolution of the pandemic
– This is how the coronavirus curve evolves around the world
– Download the tracking application for Spain
– Search engine: the new normal of municipalities
– Guide to action against the disease
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